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ALONE WOTH NOBODY For many that are incarcerated, being alone hurts more often than any other pain we may experience. Having no one to share the ideas, thoughts and passions we have, slowly but surely destroys a person behind bars. Loneliness turns to self—destruction, forcing individuals to engage in behaviors one would be appalled by. My message to those incarcerated is for all of us to start seeking p0Sil'iV€ interactions with people out in the communities. Instead of focusing on how ...

by Christopher Balmer People vs. the Animals: When we think of confinement, automatically prison ﬂashes in our minds: 16 x 9 foot cells, unsanitary conditions, loud noise, loneliness, depression, etc. are all a part of solitary conﬁnement in prison. Mass incarceration strips the freedom of every human being who becomes incarcerated. But what about human behavior that strips the natural habitats of animals across the world? In my eyes, animals have the natural right to enjoy the freedom of lif...

CONTROL YOUR OWN FUTURE When I was ten years old, my family moved to Galeton in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Galeton was a beautiful country town ﬁlled with endless possibilities. During that move, I was locked up in juvenile placement. Three years later, I was released and sent home to my mom and dad, on October 21, 2001. I was thirteen. I started the eighth grade at Galeton Area High School and was placed in emotional support classes. My time out of juvenile placement was rough. I had probl...

1; Word deﬁned as: 1. Training expected to produce a speciﬁc character or pattern of behavior. 2. Controlled behavior resulting from such training. 3. A state of order based on submission to rules and authority. 4. Punishment intended to correct or train. 5. A set of rules or methods. 6. A branch of knowledge or teaching. — v. —plined, —plinoing. 1. To train by instruction and practice. 2. To punish [<Lat. disciplina, discipulus, Disciple.] The American Heritage dicotionoary 3"" ...

Finding Appreciation Our lives are ﬁlled with many things that we don’t appreciate. For instance, we rarely appreciate someone who yells and curses at us, or someone who talks down to us and belittles us. There’re millions of things that we can come up with in our live that we honestly do not appreciate. However, let’s take a moment to reﬂect on things in our lives that we do appreciate: our children, our family, our freedom, a nice home—cooked meal, a nice pair of shoes, someone to love us, ...

God’s Essential Purpose When human beings go against God’s essential purpose, they have decided to disregard God. We as Christians should never allow someone else’s evil to make our choices for us. Jesus walked this earth, never allowing the devil to control his decisions. Each and every temptation that was cast his way, Jesus stayed pure in following his essential purpose. The life of Jesus displays the meanings of life, providing all Christians with an idea of how they should handle certain...

In Re: “THEY ARE NOT LIKE US” By William M. DiMasci0 June 2013 Graterfriends As a man who sits behind these razor-wire fences, locked down inside in isolation 23 hours a day, alone, to deal with the psychological torment of prison life, I know completely how it feels to be a prisoner. The man who spoke out against The Pennsylvania Prison Society has a right to do so as outlined in the 15‘ Amendment of the United States Constitution Freedom of Speech Clause. The same rights as this man has, I ...

INSTITUTIONALISM Many of us incarcerated individuals who are cognizant about the nature of prison life will have the ability to grasp the inner meaning behind this article. lnstitutionalism plays a tremendous role in controlling the minds of those confined to these prisons. Prison politics have a way of keeping a person’s mentality stagnated, only focusing on the here and now. All of which is irrelevant to one’s progression. For those reading this article, ask yourself how many times you have...

LET CHANGE COME On March 13, 2013, the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania ﬁled a civil rights action in Federal Court against our new Department of Corrections Secretary, John Wetzel. They make claims against him, stating that he has been deliberately indifferent to the needs of mentally ill prisoners by conﬁning them in prolonged isolation for months and even years at a time. The battle ofthe minds has begun. Who will win? The focus should not be “Who will win?” It should be “Who was ...

Life After John On May 6, 201 I, John McClellan, a 42-year-old Philadelphia native, committed suicide while being housed in the Restrictive Housing Unit at SCI-Cresson. On May 6, 201 I at around I 1:30 p.m., the pod lights popped on. I came to the cell door looking through the crack down towards 15 Cell where John was housed. Thinking it was an ordinary medical issue, I went to sit back down. But something didn’t sit right with me. John had his cell door windows covered and he didn’t eat most...

OBEY OR DISOBEY? Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ Corrupt Realities By Christopher Baliner Many correctional officers employed who work for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections are sometimes caught between a rock and a hard place in regards to making their own decisions. During their scope of employment, correctional officers are sometimes forced to engage in acts that violate the rights of human dignity. They must obey the orders of their superior no matter if they disagree with...

One Man’s Expression of Love and Support As unexpected as you may ﬁnd this letter to be, it was meant to ﬁnd comfort inside the grip of your hands as you hold this letter. Please don’t hesitate, keep reading. I think you may ﬁnd my words supportive, caring, honest and understanding. This letter is written for you to understand that someone out there realizes your pains and discomforts that swarm you during this time of incarceration. Both of us know nothing about each other nor do we know the...

Positive Psychology Definition: Positive Psychology. “The study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. It includes positive emotions, positive individual traits and positive institutions.” In this article, I want to focus on positive individual traits, positive emotions and the strengths and virtues you as an individual possess. Positive traits that you have must be nurtured and cultivated in order to materialize and grow. During our moments of despair...

REDUCE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT Campaigning for the Conﬁned I am calling members of my community to campaign for the reduction of prisoners held in solitary confinement for long terms. Many members of my community are unaware of the vast consequences associated with complete isolation of human beings. Let me provide some information to the readers in order for them to get a clear understanding how counter-productive solitary conﬁnement really is. In an article examining solitary conﬁnement as psy...

Relationships Many people look at the word “relationship” and connect this word to some kind of connection between two different individuals: male and female, male and male, and female and female, depending on what your sexual preference may be. What about relationship that we people have with ourselves? As humans, we are so in tune with others’ emotions, feelings and behaviors, that we at times, if not all the time, in most cases forget about our own needs. The relationships we have with our...

As brothers and sisters in Christ, I ask all of you for a personal favor and a favor from God: to open your hearts to all brothers and sisters incarcerated. Those incarcerated need both encouragement and assistance from the Catholic community. As Catholics, we are at a time of spiritual warfare. Many of the religious foundations we stand upon have been attacked and ridiculed by multiple world views. These world views, many ifnot all, go against our religious foundation. We are at a time when ...

TO OPEN THE DOORS OF CONFINEMENT by Christopher Balmer I hate these days when l’m all alone. . . Without anybody, so far away from home. Six years spent in complete isolation, never witnessing a moment ﬁlled without desperation. The begging and pleading, the torture of dreaming of the days when I’m free from all this crying and screaming. Did I deserve to be treated like a man without a heart? As if I were something another human could rip apart,? To be played with like a lioness before she m...

Uniqueness UN IQUENESS For many of us, the word “unique” is unrecognized. Through society’s standards, human beings have begun to act in conformity with how society thinks another should act. Parents, at times, raise their children as a “mirror of themselves”, not appreciating their child’s unique characteristics. Instead of learning from their child’s uniqueness, they ignore it, pushing their children to feel, act and think like them. Some parents even attempt to lay out their child’s future...

VICTIMS OF CRIME By Christopher Allen Balmer When we suffer from the consequences of crime, we sometimes allow the rage of being victimized control the way we live or work. Our daily routines are disturbed by our own choices. Carol L. Lavery, commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of the Victim Advocate stated on July 12, 2012, before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee in Harrisburg: “Victims who have learned of the potential release of the offender who murdered their loved one, talk of...

WHEN A MAN CRIES By Christopher Balmer The last six years of solitary confinement have brought many emotions I’ve never been in tune with to the surface. Tears have fallen down my face many times as I sat in the solitude of my prison cell. Many ofthe times that I have shed a tear were for my fellow brothers and sisters who are locked behind bars, getting abused by prison officials. In prison, people look at a man who cries, seeing him as weak or as an easy target. When you become more in tune...

WHEN CRIME VICTIMS REVENGE By Christopher Allen Balmer First and foremost, this article is not an attempt to undermine victims of criminal acts. This article is to bring reality to the table for individuals to recognize the impact that their pain may have on others. I am leaning more towards crimes involving murder and the death penalty as a sense of alleged “closure” to the victims of murder. Families that are victims to murder rely on the American justice system for the most part as a way t...

WHY THE ABUSE CONTINUES A fine example of why abuse on prisoners continues to ﬂourish is Harry Nicoletti, a former Pennsylvania prison guard, not receiving the 18 months of prison time that he should have been sentenced to. The Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge, David Cashman, spared Nicoletti from the danger he posed to the inmates he was in charge of, by not sending him to prison. However, Judge Cashman fails to see that he has just sent a message to all the other abusive prison ...

Youth Suicide “We all have dispositions and personalities and we seem to have innate tendencies either toward seeing more of the bright side or more of the dark side.”* As in youth suicides or any suicide, this person sees more of the dark side of their life. It overruns them, consumes their very existence. With any suicide, young or old, losing that person is a major loss. As with drugs and alcohol, we are slowly committing suicide but at a snail’s pace. We also see the dark side of life. Th...